‘The Condemned’, ‘The Green Mile’, ‘The Indomitable’, ‘Papillon’: when it comes to the question of the best prison film of all time, some world-famous classics come to mind. Perhaps one of the most impressive representatives of the genre, but relatively unknown and often overlooked: “Prison On Fire” with action superstar Chow Yun-Fat.
Directed by Ringo Lam in 1987, an excellent mix of deep drama and gritty action was created, which has lost none of its visual impact and emotional impact to this day – and will soon celebrate its HD premiere together with Part 2. “Prison on fire” And “Prison on Fire II“ will be released for the first time on Blu-ray on February 23, 2024 – unabridged with FSK 18 and strictly limited:
And that many film fans are already eagerly awaiting this home cinema premiere is evident from the fact that the double film, which has recently become available for pre-order, is already being diligently ordered – and at the time I am writing this article it is already in 16th place in Amazon’s Blu-ray sales charts.
By the way, the author of this article only recently caught up with the prison classic – both films are current in the FRANATIC channel on Amazon Prime Video* included – and was completely blown away by the impact that Part 1 in particular still has today. Fans of the genre who are new to the film should definitely close this educational gap. And fans of Chow Yun-Fat and hard Hong Kong fare in general should be on cloud nine in the coming months anyway, as several more masterpieces are about to hit Blu-ray for the first time. appear, which are among the best action films in history. history:
In addition to ‘The Killer’, which occupies an excellent fourth place in the ultimate FILMSTARTS ranking of the best action films of all time, ‘Bullet In The Head’ is also ahead of its own class Uncut debut on Blu-ray*. Master director John Woo’s uncompromising action drama is spectacular, shocking – and it was therefore not entirely a coincidence that it received SPIO/JK approval in its unabridged form.
These are “Prison On Fire” and “Prison On Fire 2”
In “Prison On Fire” the innocent Ka Yiu (Tony Leung Ka Fai) has difficulty adjusting to daily life in prison and is regularly exposed to abuse and humiliation by his fellow prisoners – a bunch of wild criminals with whom he has little in common. But then he meets prison-experienced Ching (Chow Yun-Fat), who is very familiar with prison practices. The two men initially slowly become closer, but eventually become best friends who soon find themselves fighting the corrupt apparatus that determines daily prison life.
In Prison On Fire 2, Ching is transferred to a new prison where the sinister guard Zau (Elvis Tsui) ruled with an iron hand. However, when one day he is suspected of murder, he decides to escape and find his son, who has been placed in an orphanage after the death of his grandmother.
For the author of this article, an outspoken friend of Hong Kong cinema, Ching is one of Chow Yun-Fat’s signature roles – in which he can fully utilize his qualities not only as an action hero, but also as a character actor.
Legendary director Lam knows how to make excellent use of his star (after all, the two always enjoyed working together) and doses his charisma just right – so that in the end he is not only cool as ever, heroic and strong, but also remains vulnerable and vulnerable. always recognisable. That’s why the absolute highlight of the saga is the heartbreaking fight at the end of the first film, which is not only incredibly brutal and spectacular, but also almost brings you to tears.